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My Favorite Things From 2012

2013 is quickly approaching so I wanted to share my favorite things from 2012 with you. These are companies, products, or practices that made my life easier and I hope you’ll also find them useful in the new year.

1. Zaggora Hot Pants

I saw these weight/inches loss fitness pants on a Groupon once and for $26 plus $7.50 shipping I thought it was worth trying. Zaggora Hot Pants are by far my most favorite fitness purchase ever. I started out with the Hot Pants in black. At the time of this posting I now have 2 pairs of Hot Pants, 2 Hot Tops, and 2 pairs of Flares. Those who know me know I’m cheap and when I start accumulating items you know they’re worth every penny.

These products come from the UK and at one time their promotional materials promised to help wearers burn 4 times the calories during a 30 minute workout. Now their website discusses energy expenditure and the like but as a wearer I swear by them.

An unexpected benefit was that wearing Zaggora products has made my skin very smooth.Before I started working out in them I was a size 8. Now I am a size 4 after approximately 3 months of wearing them in my regular work outs which are cardio 2-3 time a week for 15-20 minutes combined with watching my caloric intake. An

Since they come from the UK it is about 2 weeks until your receive your order and they are pricey without a Groupon but very worth it. FYI Zaggora still runs Groupons every few months or so.And this may be TMI, but I have always struggled to sweat during a workout and we all know sweating is good for the skin and helps shed water weight. Thanks to Hot Pants I’ll never have to worry about that again- you get a really great sweat going when you wear these!

2. Mint.com

This is the personal finance tool I have been looking for. Mint.com is a free service provided by Intuit (the company behind Quicken and Quickbooks) and it seriously has everything I’ve ever wanted in a budgeting tool, plus there is a free mobile app. It is very secure and easy to use. If you’re into personal finance you’ll want to use this tool.

You can see account balances in real time, explore graphs and charts, use tools to set goals, get recommendations based on your spending habits, and you can see all your accounts in one place, on one screen. Seriously. This product changed my life and I strongly suggest you check it out.

3. MyFitnessPal

MyFitnessPal is a free website and mobile app that lets you track your daily caloric intake, weight, and exercise/activity. You can even get fit with a friend and see and comment on their progress. It is a free service, so the website version does have some ads, but the mobile version seems to be ad free.

The website says millions have lost weight using it and I am happy to say I am one of them.

It is very easy to use and has nutrition facts on some 2 million foods, including fast food, restaurants, and even homemade meals. Sometimes you’re unable to find exactly what you ate but you can get really close.

Plus when you’re done with your weight loss you can still use its resources; I have reached my goal weight but I still use it to track my daily calorie intake and exercise. This is a tool I use every single day and I hope it stays around for years to come.

4. Amazon Prime

Amazon is awesome…but Amazon Prime is even better. Free 2 day shipping on most items, access to their streaming content, and great prices on tons of items? Yes, please! They offer a free trial so you can test the waters but I’m willing to bet if you shop there oftenyou’ll be hooked.

After the trial expires you’re left with the decision to keep it or cancel. The membership is somewhat steep at $79 a year but if you shop at Amazon often enough it pays for itself. We are one of those Amazon families so having Prime has definitely made my life easier this year. As of this post we have made 117 Amazon purchases. The majority of those purchases were prime eligible so if you do the math you can see how much it saves you.